In
announcing the International Bishops Synod on “The
Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church,” our
Holy Father Benedict XVI said, “The
Church’s “primary and fundamental” mission is to nourish
herself on the Word of God. In fact, if the proclamation of the Gospel
constitutes her reason for being and her mission, it is indispensable
that the Church know and live that which she proclaims so that her preaching
is credible, despite the weaknesses and poverty of the human beings who
constitute her.” There is no better way to keep the
Word of God as the center of our personal and pastoral lives than by celebrating
the Mass. The Mass is a mosaic of the Bible.

The Mass
begins with the SIGN OF THE CROSS professing belief in
the Triune God and salvation by the sacrifice of Our Lord on the cross.
(Phil. 2:5-11) The GREETING is taken from the greetings
in the Epistles of St. Paul. (1 Cor.1:3; Rom. 1:7; Gal.1:3; Phil. 1:2;
Col. 1:2)

The PENITENTIAL
RITE:“Lord
have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy” is the
prayer of the blind man on the road to Jericho (Luke 8:38), the humble
prayer of the Publican in the Temple (Luke 18:14) and the pleading prayer
of the ten lepers. (Luke 17:13)

The GLORIA
is the song of the angels at the birth of the Lord. “And
suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel praising
God and saying: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those
on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2: 13-14)

The
LITURGY OF THE WORD begins with a reading from the Old Testament.
The RESPONSORIAL PSALM is from the Book of Psalms. On
Sundays there is a reading from the New Testament and then a reading from
one of the Gospels.

The HOMILY
is an explanation of the Scripture Readings and application of them to
our daily lives.
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the
way and opened the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)

The CREED
is a profession of faith in the principle truths of the Bible. St. Cyril,
Bishop of Jerusalem in the Fourth Century reminds us that “This
summary of the faith was not composed at man’s whim; the most important
sections were chosen from the whole of Scripture to constitute and complete
a comprehensive statement of the faith.”

The PRAYER
OF THE FAITHFUL is our response to the Lord’s command,
“Ask and
you will receive” (Matt. 7:7)
“If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”
(John 14:14)

The PREFACE
ends with the Hosanna that the crowds welcomed Jesus with on his entry
into Jerusalem. “On
the next day when the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that
Jesus was coming to Jerusalem they took palm branches and went out to
meet him and cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord.” (John 12:12-13)

The LITURY
OF THE EUCHARIST is the fulfillment of our Lord’s promise
(John 6) and his last will and testament at the Last Supper. “Take
this all of you and eat it. This is my body which will be given up for
you.” Then he took some wine that was left over, poured
it into the cup, blessed it, and gave it to his apostles saying,
“Take this all of you and drink from it. This is the cup of my blood
which will be shed for you and for all, so that sins may be forgiven.”
Then Jesus commanded them to, “Do
this in memory of me.” This is the way the Lord wanted
to be remembered. All of this is found in the Gospels of Matthew, (26:26-28)
Mark (14:22-24) and Luke (22:14-20) and in the First Epistle of Paul to
the Corinthians (11:23-26)

The
“OUR
FATHER" is the prayer that Jesus taught his
disciples. (Matthew 6: 9-13) It has been called the perfect prayer and
a resume of the entire Gospel.

PEACE
BE WITH YOU was the constant greeting of Jesus throughout his
life. “On
the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked
for fear of the Jews Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them,
‘Peace be with you.” (John 20:19)

BEHOLD
THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD are the
words of John the Baptist pointing out Jesus to the crowd. (John 1:29)

LORD
I AM NOT WORTHY is the confession of the Centurion on the healing
of his servant. “Lord,
I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and
my servant will be healed.” (Matthew 8:8)

COMMUNION:
“I am the
living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will
live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life
of the world.” (John 6:51)
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim
the death of the Lord until he comes.” (1 Cor. 11:26)

“FOLLOW
ME” (John 1:43) At the invitation of Jesus
we assemble together as DISCIPLES to hear the Word of
God in the Scriptures and to receive the Word of God in the Eucharist.
Then we leave as APOSTLES. “GO,
THEREFORE, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew
28:19) And so the Mass ends, “GO
AND ANNOUNCE THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD.”